Wednesday, November 16, 2016

10:15 AM

Newly elected leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, announced today he is expanding the Senate Dems leadership team to add Tammy Baldwin, Bernie Sanders and Joe Manchin.

Baldwin, D-Madison, comes from the party’s progressive wing, while Manchin, D-W.V., is one of the more moderate members of the caucus. Sanders, meanwhile, has been an independent who caucused with Dems before running for the party’s presidential nomination this cycle. All three are up for re-election in 2018.

Baldwin will serve as Democratic Conference secretary, Sanders chair of outreach and Manchin vice chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.

Baldwin wrote in a Facebook post that too "many Americans feel like they are being left behind" and she will be focused on "making a difference in people's everyday lives." She also wrote "the Republican establishment now owns Washington" with lobbyists, big banks and Wall Street "calling the shots."

"I have never been afraid to stand up to these powerful interests in Washington and I will continue my fight for the people of Wisconsin to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top," Baldwin wrote.

Schumer noted the caucus previously had a seven-person leadership team. Adding the three members “shows we can unite the disparate factions of our party and our country. Our whole leadership team is emblematic of that.”

He also said the Dem team is ideologically and geographically diverse, mixing the “wisdom of experience with the vigor of youth.”

“But from top to bottom, the common thread is that each of these senators have devoted their lives to fighting for the middle class and those struggling to get there,” Schumer said. “Each of us, each of us, believes we need sharper, bolder economic message about returning the economic system, which so many feel is rigged against them, to one that works for the people.”